Szplug's Reviews > The Wealth of Nations

Christopher, if YOU are embarrassed by your lack of higher education, there's really absolutely no hope for the rest of us. You're Stephen Hawking to my Anna Nicole Smith.

I remember Joey Buttafuoco. Fondly.

Aw, thanks Mars. It's funny, because I honestly think, and would say, the same to you. I think you've a genius for discerning and describing subtle and universally-personal truths and insights, with great wit and lyricism, from all manner of book genres and types. I guess us autodidacts have to stick together, eh? Especially since we don't have any college stories to tell.

They are good times now, and it is always better late than never. It's just that, here at GR especially, there is so much in the way of incredible brainpower and brilliance and bountifully illuminating, intelligent, and interesting conversations to be found that, at times, it stirs the ashes of envy and regret that are piled within.

David, slipping one by while I was busy typing away!

Thanks. That's a nicely complimentary—and patently untrue—comparison you've made, DK, but I would have thought you'd balk at rewarding what, though honestly intended, nonetheless must have seemed a fairly transparent plea for commentary support.

Buttafuoco may have been the number one name referenced on late night talk shows in the nineties—but I still cribbed the name from David's spelling above.

Christopher, if YOU are embarrassed

Not to be pedantic, David, but I'm not actually a Christopher. I'm a Christian.

Cover to cover, that's pretty heroic :) I tried once but it was just too dull. A brutal abridgement is enough for me. Volume I of Marx's Capital by contrast, really is a gripping read...

Chris wrote: "It's just that, here at GR especially, there is so much in the way of incredible brainpower and brilliance and bountifully illuminating, intelligent, and interesting conversations to be found that, at times, it stirs the ashes of envy and regret that are piled within."

You ain't kidding. I know I'm not an idiot but I often feel like one when I hang around GR for too long.

Also, I'm a Christopher, not a Christian.

College is overrated. Sadly, overrated by employers who can be more impressed by degrees than ability or merit. It's an initial step ladder/foot in the door, not a pedestal. Don't we all learn on the job, anyway? You're all brilliant, discerning, and thoughtful without the need for a 4+ yr black hole in the flower of your youth.

And you all make me feel stoopit! You're way smarter than any forced textbok assignments since you can't fake that drive for knowledge and love of learning.

I would have thought you'd balk at rewarding what, though honestly intended, nonetheless must have seemed a fairly transparent plea for commentary support.

It may seem like a fairly transparent plea, but I really do feel like a drooling village idiot after I read many of your reviews. And I could say the same thing about the first sentence of your review, by the way. ; )

Sorry. Christians aren't allowed to shorten their names to Chris.

Umm. . . I doubt many with higher education have read The Wealth of Nations, even in the abridged version. More power to you, sir.

Howl of Minerva: I considered getting the abridged version, but I don't like 'em on principle, so I'm going in full-boat for the win. Capital is another of those books I wish I'd ingested ere the Marxian theory and criticism I've read. At this period in my life it appeals to me less than Smith's, but I've come across many smart people who say that both Capital and The Wealth of Nations are deeper than commonly held, better written than generally believed, still relevant to a surprising degree, and quoted far too often by those who've barely read a chapter, let alone the entire book.

Chris: Hey, Christopher. Us 'tians always seem to be operating in the shadow of you 'tophers. Tyranny of the Majority, and all that. I've got to say, though, I can't commend you enough for that awesome Super Grover profile. Next to Alfred E. Neuman, that's tops in my books.

Eh?Eh!: All that you say is true; I just feel that, at that age, you are primed for bingeing upon different disciplines and studies and sex and booze and retaining a considerable portion of that which you do—plus, at least in my fantasy comprehension of the Big U, the opportunity to debate theories, hone your ideas and arguments, structure your presentations and opinions, etc. I can't rid myself of the sense that my lack of such discipline and skills reveals itself in my writing here, especially as set against the standards of other members. And now I'm too much of a scaredy cat to give it the old college try.

David: Come on. I've seen on my update feed where you post the book you've just finished with its starred rating, and within fifteen or twenty minutes you've produced your usual witty, impassioned and/or scathing, perfectly-proportioned, and punchily insightful review, replete with reliably appropriate and astute references to other books, movies, music, writers, old Goodreads threads, nasty skin abrasions, etc. You never overwrite, you've a marvelous aesthetic sense, and you always entertain. You're top tier, my friend.

Sorry. Christians aren't allowed to shorten their names to Chris.

Well, if that's the case then I'm gonna be catching me some serious hell.

Kate: Thanks! I suppose I was thinking more along the lines of the philosophy and theory books I've got lined up on my shelves, though I would expect Smith to have at least been broached by economics grads—but perhaps you're right. I was just struck by one of those lengthily gestating, semi-petulant emotional blows and suddenly felt quite inadequate.

I guess you could look at college like that, a womb of idealism...and it would've been pretty dang awesome if it had been like that! There's no guarantee you'd have had that experience you're wistful for if you'd gone. Likely, at that age, you would've been appalled at all the idiocy around you without recognizing you're all the same, hah. Also, while I was more numbers-oriented instead of the fields you'd probably have pursued, I can't remember much of what I'd learned. All that youthful absorption fails in the end.

Brilliant people (these others, not me) think you're brilliant (me included here). I have no doubt you could keep up if you decided to try. I hope you do! It'll all be whizzing above my head, but I love seeing it.

A womb of idealism—I like that! Well, yours is a very sensible voice here, Eh?Eh!. Those rosy glasses I'm a viewing through today must be especially tinted; but I do hold an image of how university life might have unfolded—the Canuck version, which is probably pretty similar to the American—that focusses upon it being a bastion of intellectual activity while omitting all the other bits that would be just as prevalent—including being appalled.

Thanks for the kind words—I'm pretty much hooked on GR, and couldn't stop writing reviews here if I tried. I'll suck it up and endeavor to contribute my fair share to the whizzing!

I've also called it "sucking at the academic teat." Toss a bunch of kids together without parental supervision and you can see why the metaphors have a common theme.

Haha! Sensible? Me? The internet allows us to be anything! You shouldn't fret about how you might fare online if I can present such an even keel at any point.

Whiz away! Try to be tidy and lift the seat when you do.

Amen to that first paragraph! Thumbs down to Smith though. He has inspired far too much of the thinking that now has the capitalist west in such a mess. As far as the ultra-wealthy are concerned the 'invisible hand' has a middle finger.

Don't worry, Chris. I don't think even the people who say that they've read this have read it.

I'm sure you're right about that, Esteban. I like Adam Smith—a gentleman and a scholar and a seemingly all around perspicacious bloke—but I made it to about page fifty and reached the point of Ooooooookay, that's about enough of that for now...

I like the new profile pic, BTW. You've got that nice semi-hirsute chin thing going on.

Thanks! With my pursed, thin lips and big nose, I think I come off as a bit Sam the Eagle/Shylock 'If They Mated,' but I like "semi-hirsute chin thing" better.

That is, if hirsute means what I think it means.

Sam the Eagle! Now I'll have that severe blue dude associated with you forever more.

And as for hirsute, you can take it as either hairy or kissable, as you please (but don't forget the semi-).

You don't wanna kiss me, Chris. I'd unintentionally peck your eyes out with that beak of mine.

Don't feel embarrassed. Life is not about living in embarrassments. Recognition is more important. The fact that you have realized that there is so much more to the world than the status quo and basic human frivolous facts, you are already far more advanced than many people in their forties. Remember, there are also those who are educated and wrongly use their knowledge, or are educated but revert back to ignorance...
For you, it is never too late to start over again, I am so happy you had the courage to do so. I wish you the best!

Hi, Victoria. Thank you for your kind and encouraging words, and for taking the time to post them here. It's very generous of you, and I appreciate it.

I also apologize for missing your comment the first time around. I blame it on Goodreads' Notifications and/or Esteban, that cheeky fellow right above you. He's good for taking blame (and insults, from what I gather) and is self-admittedly not very kissable...

I haven't read book yet but I read some comments and I would recommend to read autobiography of Malcolm X and narratives of Fredric Douglas who didn't have college degrees .

Chris, how goes your reading of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations? Have you completed it already? I'm starting on it today...Looks like I have the abridged version.

Hi, Abu, and thank you for the recommendations. Fredric Douglass is a man of towering strengths in every capacity, and of whose first autobiographical work I've had the immense pleasure of ingesting from an online edition. Malcolm X, alas, is someone whom I've read nothing directly about—but that'll change at some point.

Jonathan, my reading of Smith has unfortunately stalled out. It's not at all that the magnum opus of this brilliant man was not holding me, but rather that shortly after I had begun it my reading interests did one of those quantum shifts, of which they are wont, that led me at right angles to new material and, hence, meant that Mr. Smith was shelved for the moment. But only as a temporary measure—I shall be making my way back into its mellifluous pages before any lengthy period of time has passed. With that said, I hope you've managed to make further headway than I...

I want to read it but I don't see more about this book

Szplug, thanks for the reply. I've finished my copy, which while abridged, was still 500+ pages. Have continued my explorations as well, into the works of other economists, and also in other fields. =)

I'm in my late 40's and just now getting started, " so much fucking time wasted doing shit!", I couldn't have said it better :)

I'm lucky then. I am 20 and I have already recognized that I, as well as several others, are extremely undereducated. I want to mention as well that this is due to social class and order. This also means that being unprivileged, you just have to build from the bottom to the top by educating yourself. There are so many resources available to us all. It's whether or not a person is willing invest time in themselves to grow intellectually. We all have it in us, we are just realizing it at different times.

Margaret--thumbs up!!

I'm early then I'm 15

The economics of corn, or what ever the grain of the nation may be, is the basis of all economic value. The price of corn influences the price of land and labor, and these together give precious metal (money) or paper notes (currency) their perceived value. I am listening to the unabridged audiobook, so it might be more painful to read so much about corn prices, but listening to it has been quite bearable.

how to read it online

In the same boat. In my mid 40s, catching up on vital literature I should have read ages ago. And this beast that I have started has begun very smoothly. Looking forward to this adventure in economic history.

"So much fucking time wasted doing shit, when I could have been reading..." now, there's a great translation of Tantum librorum, tam brevi tempore.

To be honest, I think you have to be 40 or so to appreciate these works. While some younger brains are excellent, most are still baking well into their 30’s

l love this book
اجاره ویلا
http://villexer.com/villa-holiday-des...
اجاره آنلاین ویلا
http://villexer.com

Even people with multiple degrees are uneducated outside their specialty. So we all need Lifetime learning and we get it through reading and experience. Awesome review Szplug.

It's a good book and you should definitely read it.No matter what's your age you will soon understand it.

Love your review. I listen to the audible version as I read the book. It helps.

It’s never too late to learn. Can you please suggest more foundational works of western civilisation that one should read?

Rohit wrote: "It’s never too late to learn. Can you please suggest more foundational works of western civilisation that one should read?"

Check out the work of Peter Turchin.